PASSION Chapter 3 part 9
- HoshiMiya
- Jul 21
- 7 min read
Even if it was said to be off-limits, it wasn't like you changed the password.
Jeong Tae-ui was lying on his uncle's bed, jingling the key card on his finger.
Thinking about it, I did something foolish. Although my uncle had told me not to come, it wasn't a forceful command. If I had barged in and insisted on staying here, my uncle would have eventually let me have my way--of course, if he had truly wished for me not to come, he would have probably concocted something to prevent it--.
Currently, amidst the menacing figures from Europe that had permeated the branch, this was the safest place in this building. The instructor's personal room, it’s off-limits area.
Then, instead of pointlessly running around and only going to shadowy places, I should have just come straight here after finishing my regular schedule and stayed put.
"I was too rigid……. If Uncle doesn’t let me in, I should have just snuck in and hidden under the bed in this room."
Jeong Tae-ui shook his head and muttered to himself. For a moment, I thought about doing that from now on, but it was already too late. I had already been marked by those who were going to come after me, and I had fallen as low as I could into unlucky circumstances. There was nothing more to be marked for, and nowhere further to fall.
"Aish," he clicked his tongue, tossed the key once and caught it, when the door opened and his uncle entered.
His uncle, who had been entering while unbuttoning his uniform one by one, looked surprised, saying "Oh?" when he saw Jeong Tae-ui lying on the bed.
"What are you doing in here right now? I told you not to come until the joint training is over."
"I finished reading the books, so I came to return them."
Jeong Tae-ui wiggled the book he held in one hand. His uncle took off his uniform jacket and hung it on the back of the chair, then stared intently at Jeong Tae-ui. This quick-witted uncle seemed to be trying to figure out why this nephew, who wouldn't have come just for that, had come to visit.
"You should’ve taken your time reading it. Well, anyway, since you're already here, just take another book with you that you would like to borrow. But don't bring it back until the joint training period is over even if you finish reading it. --Want some green tea?"
His uncle took off even his shirt and started boiling water in a pot. When Jeong Tae-ui shook his head for the offer of tea, he took out a teacup just for himself. After cracking his neck left and right since his body was stiff, he let out a light sigh.
Jeong Tae-ui put the borrowed book back in its original place and scanned the bookshelf with his eyes. Since it had only been a few days since he last came, not much was expected to have changed, but a few books I hadn't seen before had been added to the shelf. Gently running his fingertips along the top of the bookshelf, Jeong Tae-ui stopped his finger over a book with a familiar title.
"This……, they said it was sent by ship, so it seems it's already here. 'Mythology'."
"Ah, it arrived yesterday. It's a fresh new book. I haven't read it yet either, but you can read it first, if you want to. Anyway, I don't think I'll have time to read for a while, and I have other books to read."
"Hmm……. Then I'll take this. I'll bring it back when I come again after the joint training."
His uncle gestured with his hand as if to say okay. He drank the greenish tea brewed in the teacup and let out a long breath.
He never showed signs of exhaustion, but being no iron man, it was impossible for my uncle not to be tired these days. However, when his eyes met Jeong Tae-ui's, who was staring at him, his uncle tilted his head slightly with his usual expression.
"You seem very tired these days. You don't even have time to read. Besides, I think this was a book you really wanted to read, Uncle."
Jeong Tae-ui said, lightly tapping the spine of the new book he had taken out with his palm. His uncle chuckled, "Hmm," and shrugged his shoulders.
"That's right. The original idea was that if I sent it by ship, it would arrive around next weekend, which means right after the end of the joint training period, so I thought I could read it right away at my leisure."
"But it came much earlier than I expected," his uncle muttered. Jeong Tae-ui understood, thinking, "Ah, so that's why," and nodded.
"Indeed. You deliberately asked them to send it by ship so you would receive the book after the joint training was completely over? I wondered why you specifically sent it by post when you could have just received it directly from Ilay anyway, since he was going to come here."
His uncle's hand, which was bringing the teacup to his mouth, paused for a moment. His uncle stopped the teacup near his lips, looked at Jeong Tae-ui for a moment, and then smiled slowly. It was a look that said he now understood why he had come. He took a sip of tea and placed the teacup back down.
"Did that guy tell you himself? Well, well……. It was shocking enough that he told his name to someone he would see for the first time. He must really like you."
I don't think that's quite right……. Jeong Tae-ui muttered inwardly. If he liked me, would I have spent all this time trembling with anxiety and only stepping in the shadows?
He mumbled to himself, but decided not to say anything explicitly, as claiming "He didn’t like me" also felt a bit silly to say.
Besides, even if he liked him, it wouldn’t change anything. That man's idea of liking someone was different from how ordinary people felt about someone they liked. To that man, liking someone, it meant he regarded them as an interesting object. It was far from the usual meaning of regarding someone with affection or cherishing them dearly.
He was that kind of person. And it wasn't as if my uncle didn't know that.
Thinking about it made my mouth taste bitter. Ultimately, no matter who he was, whether a weapons dealer living somewhere in Germany or a lunatic brawler affiliated with the European branch, nothing changed. Jeong Tae-ui sat on the bed, smacked his lips, and asked with a sour expression.
"I have absolutely no intention of prying into someone else’s life, Uncle. But I'm someone who has to look after my own life for the next half year, so I get anxious if even the smallest thing seems strange."
"Understandable. So?"
"What kind of relationship do you have with that crazy guy?"
Jeong Tae-ui's question was concise. Who he was referring to was also perfectly clear. However, his uncle remained silent for a moment, just looking at Jeong Tae-ui with a subtle smile. His face was lost in thought.
"I guess…… you could say we're book friends."
When his uncle slowly opened his mouth, Jeong Tae-ui frowned slightly. Then, he looked at his uncle silently before shrugging his shoulders. If my uncle didn't want to talk about it, there was no need to force it out.
"Okay. Well, I'll just take good care of my own life, then."
"I know his brother. To be precise."
His uncle continued. Jeong Tae-ui closed his mouth again. His uncle spoke calmly, while his face showed no hint of falsehood. His uncle's face, which smiled slightly when their eyes met, indicated that his words were the complete truth. It’s not the whole truth though.
"…….Okay. I don't know why a guy like that is stuck in the UNHRDO branch, but you can't predict what happens in people's lives."
Or perhaps it's more accurate to say I didn't understand why the family background of the guy in the UNHRDO branch was like that.
Jeong Tae-ui shrugged his shoulders. In fact, even if my uncle had given me a heads-up earlier, nothing would likely have changed. Perhaps only a vague prejudice would have increased. Or I might have made a ridiculous mistake and only seen the man named Riegrow on the screen as the Ilay I knew.
Jeong Tae-ui scratched his head.
"Okay. I'll get going now. Well…… I probably won't have much time to read either, so by the time I finish this, the joint training will have been long over."
"Hmm……. Alright. Since I haven't read that yet, don't give it back too late."
"You said I could take my time."
"I didn't say that about that book. I just said you could look at it first if you wanted to."
"What's that supposed to mean? You said you had plenty of other books to read," Jeong Tae-ui grumbled as he headed towards the door.
Sighing inwardly, "Ugh, tomorrow's a precious weekend but I can't rest, it'll be training again. They called it extreme training, I wonder what it'll be like this time," Jeong Tae-ui was opening the door to leave when his uncle suddenly called out from behind him.
"Tae-ui-ya."
"Yes?"
Jeong Tae-ui turned back, his hand on the doorknob. His uncle was looking at Jeong Tae-ui with a subtle expression. It wasn't the face of an instructor, but purely the face of my 'uncle'.
"It doesn't matter what kind of person that guy is or what he does. If you were thinking of Ilay and Riegrow as separate people, the one you misunderstood was Ilay, not Riegrow."
Jeong Tae-ui looked at his uncle without speaking. What he was trying to say was crystal clear. He was saying that the image of Riegrow, whom I had faced directly, was closer to the truth than the Ilay I had chatted with occasionally over the phone.
After a moment's pause, Jeong Tae-ui let out a small laugh and shook his head.
"You’re wrong though, Uncle. I couldn't really know anything about Ilay either."
Jeong Tae-ui said, adding, "From the moment he only showed his hands, he was already someone you couldn't figure out." Jeong Tae-ui then held out both his hands, showing them. At this, his uncle chuckled softly.
"Alright, then you can go. Try not to be seen by people."
"Hmm--- Wouldn't it be impossible not to be seen? With surveillance cameras installed everywhere here."
"…….Right. There’s that. You'll have to copy the disciplinary regulations ten more times later."
Jeong Tae-ui's face instantly contorted into a frown. My uncle said, looking regretful, "That's why you got caught on camera, be careful from now on," but it was already too late.
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Credits:
Translator: Hoshi Miya
Editor/Proofreader: Tâmago
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